STEPS TO ORGANIZING A COMMUNITY LISTENING FORUM … · STEPS TO ORGANIZING A COMMUNITY LISTENING...

What is the purpose of a Community Listening Forum?

Community Listening Forums on addiction and recovery provide community members the opportunity to share

personal experiences in dealing with alcohol and drug addiction, loss of a family member or friend, as well as

recovery from addiction with their communities’ stakeholders. They also provide a platform for the community

members to identify any barriers they are experiencing with seeking recovery, sustaining their recovery, and or

finding recovery support services within their communities. It also provides an opportunity for the community

to identify any discriminatory policies or negative attitudes that exist within their community; which create

barriers for individuals within the recovery community.

These forums are being held across New York State. The Listening Forums will engage the community in

discussion with local leaders and result in a report titled, The State of Addiction Recovery in New York, which

will help to better inform the general public and policy makers.

STEPS TO ORGANIZING A COMMUNITY LISTENING FORUM

Step 1 Identify the issue(s) or subject areas you want to highlight:

Every community is different therefore every forum will be different. The subjects that will be focused on will be dependent on the community’s needs, which can also change over time.

For example, one community’s forum may be held to inform the community and stake holders about the lack of recovery support services in the community. Another community’s forum may be held

to discuss the lack of medication assisted treatment available in their community.

Step 2 Select the Place and Date:

Finding an appropriate location is important. As the location can help set the tone for your Forum. Select a place that is easy to access for participants and (if you invite them) local media.

Examples of locations to choose: local churches, recovery community centers, youth club houses, universities and colleges, and public libraries.

*Some locations may let you use their space for free or for a reduced rate. Ask!

The date and time are equally important. When selecting your date, check local community calendars so you can avoid competing with other community events.

Friends of Recovery – New York Recovery Talks: Community Listening Form MANUAL 2

Identify speakers, panelist, moderator and audience: Select a note taker, and volunteers to work at the sign in table and take photos

You will need to select 4 types of participants for these town hall format forums: 1. Speakers:

These should be members and allies of the recovery community. Select about 10-12 speakers which can speak to the subject areas identified. Example: One subject area the community wants to highlight is that harm reduction needs to be recognized as a pathway to recovery: select an individual whose pathway to recovery was harm reduction.

2. Panelists: These should be community stakeholders such as School Board Members, Hospital Administration, etc. It should also include elected officials such as Senators, Assembly Members, City/Village Board Members, Sheriffs, District Attorneys, etc.

3. Moderator: The moderator will begin the event by thanking everyone for attending the Forum and participating. They will introduce each speaker, keep track of the time, and manage the Forum. The moderator makes sure that everything runs smoothly according to your agenda. The moderator will also facilitate the responses of the Listening Panel.

4. Audience: Invite the recovery community including people in recovery, families in recovery, and allies. Send invitations to the local community service/ human service organizations including local mental health practices, primary care physicians, treatment courts, probation departments, outpatient facilities, local media outlets, etc.

5. Note Taker: Select an individual who will take notes on what is addressed in the forum. That way you can follow-up with the stakeholders, committee members and community.

6. Sign-in Table and photographer Volunteers: Sign in table volunteers will be responsible for making sure they collect the contact information as people enter the venue. They may also hand out resources. Photographers will photograph the event and share photos on social media. Cell phone photos will do the trick!

Step 3

Step 4 Promoting your event

Create a flyer or an invitation. Friends of Recovery-NY has a generic flyer we will provide. Begin posting the flyer or invitation on all your organizations’ social media sites, post it on your organization’s website (if you have one), send to all local news outlets, send to FOR-NY so they can post on their website, post on community boards (in super markets, laundromats, libraries, etc.).

If your organization has a Facebook page create an event and invite all your page’s followers. Encourage those people to also share on their social media accounts.

Ask local news stations to advertise your event, a lot of times they will do it for free if you ask and explain the importance of the event. Ask local newspapers to publish the event in their paper, most papers have community event sections.


Step 5 Inviting the Audience, Panelist, and Speakers

Audience: There are numerous ways you can invite people to the event:

1. Create a Facebook event 2. Make paper invitations to send out to the community 3. Have event posted in local media outlet 4. And many more…

*Tip: use any and all outlets you have to invite people to this forum

Speakers: Ask them if they would like to speak on the subject your group has selected them for. Make sure they are comfortable speaking in front of media (because hopefully we have a lot of media coverage).

Panelists: Send personal emails to the identified community stakeholders. *Attach the invitation or flyer to the email

Example email Dear Assembly member, [Your organization’s name] is hosting a Recovery Talks: Community Listening Forum on [Date and Time] at [Location] we would be honored if you would be a part of our listening panel. Community Listening Forums provide community members the opportunity to share personal experiences in dealing with alcohol and drug addiction, loss of a family member or friend, as well as recovery from addiction with their communities’ stakeholders. They also provide a platform for the community members to identify any barriers they are experiencing with seeking recovery, sustaining their recovery, and/or finding recovery support services within their communities. It also provides an opportunity for the community to identify any discriminatory policies or negative attitudes that exist within their community; which create barriers for individuals within the recovery community. We really hope you or someone on your staff could join us. [Your Name]

*Try to have the invitations out at least a month prior to your event date. That way people can make arrangements to come; especially legislators.


Preparing Speakers and Media

Speakers: We need to ensure that recovery is being empowered by the speakers. We are one community with one voice!

1. Schedule an Our Stories have Power Training with your speakers. You may have to do several to make sure that all speakers have language training. FOR-NY has trained hundreds of people around the state as trainers do deliver this training. Contact FOR-NY to find a trainer near you!

2. Go over each speaker’s speech with them, so that recovery is highlighted and there are no war stories. Make sure the speech is no more than 3-5 minutes long.

3. If possible do a rehearsal so that speakers are prepared to speak in this public format.

Media: 1. Give your media outlets the “say this not that chart,” and explain to them why language

is important when they are reporting to the community

2. Ensure that your media outlets are using recovery friendly language.

*We want to ensure headlines DO NOT like this:

Step 6

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&source=images&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwjdnr3YgrXiAhXRct8KHRD3A7sQjRx6BAgBEAU&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenationalcouncil.org%2Frecovery-month-toolkit%2F&psig=AOvVaw3z4Irqn42iVPJhn_8eVMVO&ust=1558816651006937


ENTRANCE

ENTRANCE

Step 7

Sign in

Re

sou

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Tab

le

Panelists Panelists

Re

sou

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Tab

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Sign in Resource Table

Table

Re

sou

rce Tab

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eso

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Table

Audience Seats Audience Seats

Audience Seats

Audience Seats

Audience Seats

Audience Seats

Speaker Podium

Preparing Materials and Room Resources:

1. Invite local organizations that provide community services to have a table. Including Faith based organizations, RCO’s, RCOC’s, outpatient providers, insurance providers,

2. Have a resources table which includes an array of resources that exist in your community

Tables: 1. Have a sign in table with a sign in sheet at the entrance of your space. If there is more

than one entrance, have more than one sign-in table

2. Have resource tables setup around the space so the audience can walk around before

or after the event and get familiar with the resources that exist in your community.

Room Setup: See diagram below

Panelists


RECOVERY TALKS IN PHOTOS!

Recovery Talks in the Bronx May 2018

Listening Panel, Audience and Speakers

Recovery Talks in the Bronx

May 2018

Sign-in Table

Recovery Talks in the

Bronx 2018

Speakers


Recovery Talks in

Washington County

June 2018

Listening Panel

PRO-TIP…Use name tags

for listening panel!

Recovery Talks in

Washington County

June 2018

Speakers

Place Signs Outside

venue to help audience members find their way


Recovery Talks in

Schenectady County

December 2018

Master of Ceremonies

Recovery Talks in Schenectady County

Listening Panel and

Audience

Recovery Talks in Schenectady County

Speaker


SAMPLE FLYER


SAMPLE OUTREACH


SAMPLE AGENDA (page 1 of 5)


SAMPLE SPEAKERS LIST


SAMPLE SIGN-IN SHEET

STEPS TO ORGANIZING A COMMUNITY LISTENING FORUM … · STEPS TO ORGANIZING A COMMUNITY LISTENING...

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